The Perceived Collapse of Growing Economies

The Oxford American Dictionary defines economy as follows,

1. The wealth and resources of a country or region, especially in terms of the production and consumption of goods and services.

2. Careful management of available resources: even heat distribution and fuel economy.

Simply comparing these two definitions of economy presents a stark contrast against the individual meanings of the two definitions. The first explains the economy as we know it presently as it operates day-in-day-out. The second explains economy as we would see in new cars that have increased fuel efficiency therefore becoming economical. So why is there a difference between the two examples of economy? Would it not make sense to embrace the latter definition as the one which explains our current money-market economy(1)? These are questions that are necessary for debate among our local, state, and federal officials, and these questions need answers NOW.

In our localized economies which are comprised of towns, cities, and counties, the economies flourish at different levels and in different markets, but a flourishing economy does not relay back to a flourishing community. Our current money-market economy is based on growth factors of production and consumption and all economies embrace this no matter what size. Whether the economy is agriculture based, service based, manufacturing based, or any other market for that matter, when there are high levels of production and consumption the government officials parade the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rates around in all mediums exercising their power to show their followers that they can create growth. This initial growth leads to continued growth as the citizens are given a false perception of economic prosperity (the first definition of "economy"), and as this exponential growth continues for a while the environmental, social, and political degradation begins to appear in all economies from individual to national levels, which can lead to a perceived collapse of an entire economy. This means that the infrastructure (power plants, warehouses, factories) are still intact and operational, but the level of growth necessary to operate the infrastructure has grown so large that the negative impacts on society from resource depletion has led to the perceived collapse of the economy.

Unfortunately there are historic examples abound on economies that failed due to infinite exponential growth in finite environments, the problem that has gone unanswered is, that these failed economies simply restart and management is shifted to a different player, which then new management reaches another threshold, followed by another perceived collapse, and the cycle continues. With our current money-market economy(1) at growth thresholds equivalent to another perceived economic collapse, it has become imperative that the citizens that contribute to the false perception of economic prosperity re-educate themselves and understand the definitions of economy and what the reality of global prosperity could be in a world that utilizes an economy defined as economical. Or as Garrett Hardin explains in his famous article, The Tragedy of the Commons,

“Ruin is the destination toward which all rush, each pursuing his own best interest.”(2)

Meaning that without mutual cooperation from all citizens, the growing localized economies, that make-up the national economy, that go on to make-up the global economy will inevitably reach a threshold where the perceived economic collapse will be dwarfed by the realistic collapse of the biosphere and its inhabitants (which includes humans).

It is up to the human species to decide mutually when and where limits are to be placed in our systems to preserve prosperity, allocate resources with unbiased equality, and thrive along with all other inhabitants of our planet, because otherwise our planet will enact its own limits which will know no borders and the consequences of these natural limits will last generations. So now the decision is yours, I have made mine and I came to these conclusions through unbiased scientific data that has no room for opinions, beliefs, or perceptions of society.

What is your conclusion?

This image explains the cycle that has perpetuated through the centuries as our economies have simply been recycled over and over again.

This image portrays a cycle that is based on steady-state economics and the possibility of prosperity.

P.S.
Please comment, subscribe, and share on this blog, it is not my intention to shift your individual paradigms, simply to present information that will hopefully present questions that will help you come to your own conclusions about our world’s problems and the solutions that are sometimes hard to accept.

Onward,
Hayden van Andel
a concerned citizen

Notes

1. Zeitgeist: Moving Forward. YouTube. August 5, 2012.

2. “Thinking in Systems: A Primer”. Meadows H. Donella, 2008. August 5, 2012.